:: Kursiu Nerija National Park :: Nature

CLIMATE

GEOLOGY

Formation

Human impact

Landscapes today

LANDSCAPE RESERVE

FLORA

Forest stands

Grass vegetation

FAUNA

Birds

Mammals

Reptiles and amphibians

Fishes

Insects

LAPNUGARIS LANDSCAPE RESERVE

This reserve covers 2120 ha and features the Great Dune .

Ridge planted with mountain pines, and the highest foredunes in the spit reaching 10 to 12 metres.

Each landscape element has its own name and history: Love Valley, Eum's Hill, Lybis Hill, Lapnugaris Hill and Hagen's Hill. Very specific and unusual is an area of 3,5 ha planted with Corsican pine.

Thick reedbeds in the shallows of the Curonian Lagoon attract the attention of visitors passing the reserve by the main road. Foresters of the national park planted these. This is the cheapest and most effective measure to prevent coastal erosion. Therefore every spring foresters plant reeds in a new strip of the coast.

Such species included in the Red List can be found in the reserve as follows:

plants - Shining Crane's-bill (Geranium lucidum L.), Flax-leaved Allseed (Radiola linoides Roth), Sea-holly (Eryngium maritimum L.), Dark-red Helleborine (Epipactis atrorubens (Hoffn.) Besser), Spring Vetch (Vicia lathyroides L.), Seaside Centaury (Centaurium littorale, Gilmour); birds - hobby (Falco subbuteo).

JUODKRANTE LANDSCAPE RESERVE

This is an area of 260 ha between the Juodkrante recreation zone and the Nagliai Strict Nature Reserve.

Juodkrante Landscape Reserve encompasses the southern part of Parabolic Dune Complex, which was designated as a nature monument.

A fragmented old-growth forest contains pine trees that are 230 years old. Herons' Hill stands by the grey heron and cormorant colony - the largest one in Lithuania.

For visitor interest there is a view-point on this hill. The sand plain of Avinkalnis Horn and Grey (Dead) Dunes - probably the most beautiful panorama in the spit - can be see from there.

The Juodkrante Landscape Reserve gives shelter for a number of species that are included in the Red List: plants - Ivy-leaved Speedwell (Veronica hederfolia L.); birds - hobby (Falco subbuteo), stock dove (Columba oenas L.); mammals - otter (Lutra lutra L.) and stoat (Mustella erminea).

KARVAICIAI LANDSCAPE RESERVE

The Karvaiciai Landscape Reserve covers an area of 3043 ha with the largest and the most diverse natural complex of the Curonian Spit.

It contains Giedruze, Preila, Karvaiciai and Skirpstas dunes, overgrown with mountain pine. Their height is approximately 60 metres. Nearby the Vecekrugas Dune rises to 67,2 m; it is the highest dune in the Kursiu Nerija National Park. Its name originated from the Kurshes word "vece", which means "old" and the word "kruogs", which means "tavern", and the name itself reminds one of the old tavern located at the foot of the dune. The whole dune is covered with mountain pines. A number of horns pointing out to the lagoon can be seen from the top: the Great and Small Preila Horns, Ozkos (Goat's) Horn, Pervalka Horn, Zirgu (Horses') Horn, Garbes (Honour) Horn and Bulvikis Horn.

The latter is the widest place of the Curonian Spit, which extends 3,8 km. It is thought that name of the horn and the nearby bay originated from the Kurshes family name Bulvikis. But there also exists another explanation of the origin of the name: the word "bolja" in Sweden means "wave", while the word "vik" means "bay", so the name Bulvikis could be of Sweden origin as well.
Before the big dunes were aforested, the Bulvikis Horn had expanded very quickly: from 1837 to 1910 it annually extended by approximately 7 metres. At present the reverse process is taking place - the horn is washed by the streams of the lagoon and is continuously decreasing. From the Bulvikis Horn and the bay one can see an excellent view of the coasts of the Curonian Lagoon and the Vente Horn. When visibility is clear, the other coast of the Curonian Lagoon seems reachable by hand, but this impression is deceptive, as the width of the lagoon between the horns of Bulvikis and Vente is more than 8 km, while the depth is approximately 3 m.

In the northern part of the reserve, between Preila and Pervalka, stands Karvaiciai Hill. It keeps the secret of the most tragic history of the village of the Curonian Spit. Until 1797, there existed the Karvaiciai village, the inhabitants of which tried to escape from the travelling sand by moving from one place to another. But even the newest place on the coast at the Karvaiciai Bay didn't give them any chance to escape and to live in peace. After a long and unsuccessful struggle with sand and after the Karvaiciai church had been covered with sand, the people left the village. Part of them moved to the southern side of Juodkrante and part of them to Nida and Nagliai (Agila). Karvaiciai village is the native place of Liudvikas Gediminas Reza (1776-1840), a professor of Karaliaucius University and one of the most famous researchers of folk heritage and a poet of the early 19th century. He was the first to publish in 1818 the work "Metai" by K.Donelaitis and fables some time later. In 1825 he published the first collection of Lithuanian folk songs "Dainos". The monument to L.G.Reza by the artist E.Jonusas was erected in 1979, on the Skirpstas Dune near Pervalka.

The Karvaiciai Landscape Reserve is rich in rare species, which are listed in the Red Book:
Spring Vetch (Vicia lathyroides), Shining Crane's-bill (Geranium lucidum), Saltwort (Salsola kali), Sea-holly (Eryngium maritimum), Early Hair-grass (Aira praecox), Cross-leaved Heath (Erica tetralix L.) and Seaside Centaury (Centaurium littorale Gilmour) grow here; the ringed plower (Charadrius hiaticula) and the shelduck (Tadorna tadorna) have their nests here also.

PARNIDIS LANDSCAPE RESERVE

Parnidis Landscape Reserve covers an area of 230 ha consisting of Parnidis Horn, the coastal and the lagoonal sand plains and the remnants area.

Slope of the Parnidis Dune

This reserve is a buffering zone for the Grobstas Strict Nature Reserve from the Nida settlement.

It features landscapes of great aesthetic value. Especially exposed is the dune ridge, which is covered with mountain pine on the northern end and moving sand in the south. This is the only place in the national park where drifting dunes remain.

Drifting dunes are very sensitive to any disturbance brought by visitors. According to the scientific estimations, each person climbing or sliding down the steep slope pushes down several tons of sand. Due to humans and the wind, the most beautiful dunes in the spit every year get lower and lower. Staff of the national park keeps trying to preserve sand dunes. They mark out separate areas on the Parnidis Dune slope, where visitors aren't allowed to go.

There is a view point on the top of Parnidis Dune. This is the most famous sight in vicinity of Nida. In 1995, the architect R.Kristapavicius, sculptor K.Pudymas and astronomer R.Klimka built a solar clock there. This place was chosen not by an accident - The Curonian Spit is the only place in Lithuania where sun rises and sets in the water. The original clock finger was 12 m in height (2 m under the ground) and weighted 200 tons. In 1999, on December 4th the hurricane "Anatoly" that devastated the Curonian Spit broke the marble slab. On the half left, one can see signs and symbols of calendar celebrations, which were copied from the ancient wooden runes calendar.

At the foot of Parnidis Dune on the northern side lies the Valley of Silence. It is a peaceful place surrounded by dunes.

On the southern part of the reserve lies the Valley of the Death. In 1870-1872 there was a camp for war prisoners. French solders captured by Germans lived there. Mostly they served to plant forests on dunes. Living conditions in the camp were very poor and many prisoners died.

There is a place in the Parnidis Landscape Reserve, where existed an Airclub Gliding School.
It was established in 1933 and closed in 1939, when Germany occupied Klaipeda region. Between 1939 and 1943 it had been used as a school by German military airforce. Nowadays only foundations are left there. A forest grows in the place which used to be an airport. The symbolic hangar arch and memorial stone built in 1979 remind visitors about the former gliding school.

The following rare species can be found in the Parnidis Landscape Reserve:
Seaside Centaury (Centaurium littorale), Sea-holly (Eryngium maritimum) and Dark-red Heleborine (Epipactis atrorubens Bessertas). These rare plants, also the tawny pipit (Anthus campestris), which nests here, are included in the Red Data List of Lithuania.

> Lapnugaris landscape reserve
> Juodkrante landscape reserve
> Karvaiciai landscape reserve
> Parnidis landscape reserve